Plains of Asler
It has been many centuries since the death of Temur Arzan, the warlord who once ruled over much of Dophia, and the plains have since been absorbed by the empire of Dophia. The people here could care less though. They live their day to day lives not really concerned with the rest of Dophia. General History During the time of Feudalism there was a small village near the blue desert. A young boy watched as a nearby lord came in and raided his village, killing the men and enslaving the men and women. He himself was taken to a city as a slave. The young boy, Temur Arzan, grew up into a strong, educated man, who was set on revenge. Circumstances gave him that option, and he took it, leading to a slave revolt. They won, and thus began his empire of Dophia. He spent the next few decades growing his empire. Though he had seen his mother and other women of his tribe taken forcefully, and seen the exploitation of children, he proved to be no different. When a city would fall Temur would give one of his closest friends or allies control of the city. What would happen next would be up to the person. Temur's downfall was the Zeltic Coast. He never suceeded in taking the coast and people's fear and faith in the warlord began to weaken, as did Temur's ego. When he returned to his home city, he partook in wine and women, ignoring the growing needs of the empire, trying to dround out his inability to defeat the Zeltic Coast. This caused further unrest. Eventually, he was killed, by who has never been known. The empire began to break apart and Dophia became a warlike state as kingdoms fought each other. Eventually a new empire came to be, but this time, it was based off of peace, order, and equality, not revenge and power. Each city has its own history and some of it can be traced back far. Cities Aeon This city is on the edge of the Northern boundary of the plains. It is near Nevran and the border of the Steel Mountains. This city, along with Nevran, squeezed Cearis’s forces through a bottleneck, and as such, Cearis lost many of his siege weapons. However, unlike Nevran, this city was not protected by magic and Cearis retaliated. Concerned with making his stand at the Steel Mountain keep, he sent only a small contingent, but that was all that was needed. They used their foul magic to break the defenses and overrun the city. Many innocent people were tortured, maimed, and slaughtered. The screams of the city could be heard from miles away. The Head’s family were killed as well and the Head himself nearly drained of all life, but he managed to survive. The city burned and the cemetery was defiled as the dead were risen to grow Cearis’s ranks. Once Cearis was defeated, the people turned on the Head. They stormed his keep and demanded he step down. Weak, he had no choice but to comply. For a time lawlessness ruled and the people lived in anarchy. The emperor was having none of this. He sent a contigon to force law once again. The captain went about bringing order to the city. Crushing gangs and outlawed guilds, setting martial law to bring peace to the streets, and kicking out the hooligans from the keep. The people fought back to no avail. Once again, order was brought back to Aeon. Once order was established, he put an order out for artisan’s and craftsmen to come and rebuild the city, thus changing the city forever. The captain has since stayed there as the Head. The old Head accepted an invitation by the emperor to spend his days in the Imperial city as one of his advisers. The craftsmen and artisans stayed in the city, thus transforming Aeon to the best place in Dophia for art, culture, and craft. Many of the old timers stick to their old ways and there is definitely a gap in the generations. Aberish Forticus If the emperor were to pick once city as a headache, this would be it. The town head is a strict man to people who do know him, but this is just a facade. He will enact weird and unusual punishments for criminals and ignores the town watch that is more of a bumbling fool act then a watch. The head of the watch is a drunken master dwarf, so you can imagine what it must be like. This town boasts the Imperial Post Office. It is run by the city and does well despite its private competitor. This place is a gathering for outcasts and is run by some of the most odd characters. They have a contingent of post office messengers who travel Dophia delivering letters. There is a mage here but he is a terrible one! This mage causes more accidents then any good or helpful deeds with his magic and accidents have become a common occurrence. As such, to make up for his destruction, he must answer any summons he receives from the Head. There is an animist here as well. She makes golems that do medial tasks. Each comes with a key and an instruction manual. They key opens its breastplate to its inner workings. Each has been magically programmed to answer only to it’s master and each protects their master. During the time of Cearis, this town was kept free. Cearis attempted to worm his way in, but the fumbling mage managed to fool his attempts every time, just by mere accident. The postmen also managed to stop Cearis, by sending conflicting messages to each of his spies, causing them to kill each other. Lore This is a rather serious town. Needless to say, they hate Aberish Forticus. The town’s head is a formal man who will put you in jail for not following proper etiquette. His daughter is a spoiled princess and whines to her father when she doesn’t get what she wants. The emperor appreciates the Head for getting things done, but he finds the Head too strict. The captain of the guard is just as serious. He will cut the hands off children for stealing, put women to death for killing the men that hurt them. The law is the law, no exceptions. This town was corrupted by Cearis and the people suffered. The war ended and Cearis’s agents were destroyed and the people rejoiced thinking the town would go back to the way it was, but alas, the current Head took over. Because of this, the people are a hard, cold, stern lot. They are not really friendly to anyone. The court is a serious and dull place and the nobles dress in dark and simple clothes. Everything here is dull, marriages, funerals, there is no celebrating. Axandra This is a port city. Outside of Axandra, between Axandra, Moira, and Aron are farmlands and groves, the latter being the most prevalent. All agriculture is taken to Axandra to be sold here, dates being the biggest seller. The Head is a businessman and a merchant. He specializes in dried fruits and spices. He is not greedy, but he does take huge losses seriously. He puts to death any thief that is caught unless the thief can bribe his way out. It is quite warm here so the dress is less. Women take care to cover their breasts and ladyparts well, but on a summer day there may not be much more covering. On the hottest days men may strip to their loincloths, but if one has to be in the sun an extended length of time they take care to fully cover their skin. Their closeness to the city of thieves does not effect them since Axandra will act swiftly upon thieves and city of thieves finds it not worth the trouble. This is a neutral city that focuses mainly upon itself, so it does not act unless they feel it will affect their way of life. They do however, go to great lengths to protect the nearby farmland, even farms and groves outside of their area. Bleu This is a small farming village. It was unaffected during the time of Cearis as it had no political or strategic advantage to him. It is a cluster of farms and homes, not a proper city. These people are very religious and untrusting of outsiders. Magic is strictly forbidden and religious service is not voluntary. Brakia This is a port city and is often called the “Iron Port”. Thanks to Cearis, they are highly mistrusting of outsiders and the Head is a strict man. Magic is forbidden here and the knights rule the city, some of the knights abuse this. They survive on their docks and sea trade, not producing any goods themselves. There is a smuggling undertone in the city but the Head ignores it because he fears the loss of business at the docks if he pushes to much.